Mortgage Applications Fell 23% Last Week

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — Mortgage applications filed last week dropped a seasonally adjusted 23.0% compared with the previous week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday. Applications for the ended Sept. 26 were also lower than in the same week during 2007, down 28.4%, the Washington-based MBA said.

The group’s survey covers about one half of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications. Applications to purchase a home were down a seasonally adjusted 10.9%, compared with the week before. Filings to refinance existing mortgages fell 34.7% on a week-to-week basis. The four-week moving average for all loans was up 0.1%, according to the association’s latest survey.

Refinancing made up 44.0% of all applications, down from 51.6% the previous week, with adjustable-rate mortgages accounting for 3.3% of filings, down from 4.0%.

As for interest rates, the rate charged on fixed-rate mortgages held essentially steady last week. A 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.07%, off from 6.08% the previous week, while the average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage stood at 5.82% last week, off from 5.84%. However, the rate on one-year ARMs averaged 7.19%, up from 7.01% the previous week.